UBC ready to face cream of the crop at NAIA World Series

The UBC Thunderbirds, shown here after winning the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round tournament in Hattiesburg, Miss., will compete in the NAIA World Series starting on Friday. Photo: UBC Thunderbirds

May 21, 2025

By Jake McGrail

UBC Communications

For the first time since 2006 and just the second time ever, the UBC Thunderbirds are heading to the Avista NAIA World Series.

After a runner-up finish at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship, the T-Birds put forward arguably their best display of baseball all season at the NAIA Baseball Championship Opening Round in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

Playing three games, all against teams ranked above them in the final NAIA Coaches' Poll, the 'Birds outscored their opposition 30-11 to win all three and punch their ticket to the World Series, held from May 23 to May 31 in Lewiston, Idaho.

"We have had a couple of close calls at the past few Opening Rounds and to finally break through this year was special," said Thunderbirds head coach Chris Pritchett. "Really proud of these kids as they have continued to learn and grow from failure to the point where they trust who they are and believe in themselves."

While the experience of being at the World Series will be a new one for both the players and coaching staff, the Thunderbirds do have a slight edge in that they will be playing in a familiar environment.

The nine-day, 10-team tournament is held on the campus of Lewis-Clark State, meaning the games will take place on a field that the 'Birds play on every year. UBC is the only CCC school that qualified for this year's championship, meaning they have the most experience with the grounds of any team there.

"It's a new experience to be at the World Series but this is a veteran group that has played some of these teams here this week and competed well," added Pritchett. "I also like that there is familiarity with Harris Field as these seniors have probably played over 30 games there. I like where we are at as a team and will continue to remind them to focus on what we do to be successful and not so much on who we play."

To Pritchett's point, the Thunderbirds made sure to test themselves with a strong nonconference schedule at the beginning of the season, which included a series of games against Tennessee Wesleyan and Southeastern University, the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds at the World Series. They also played No. 4 Hope International last year.

The team entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed is the LSU Shreveport Pilots, who are a perfect 54-0 on the season and are riding a NAIA record-breaking win streak.

The 'Birds, meanwhile, are the No. 9 seed. Their opponent in their tournament-opener is the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies (53-5, 8-0), who they've only faced once before. That game came all the way back in the 2016 NAIA Opening Round, which the Grizzlies won 3-0 in Lawrenceville, Ga.

The Grizzlies are on fire over the last month or so, winning 18 of their last 19 games and claiming the Continental Athletic Conference Championship for the fourth year in a row. They are led at the plate by Alex Harrell and Braxton Meguiar, both of whom have a batting average over .420 and an on-base percentage over .570. Ace pitcher Ben Harris sports a 2.42 ERA and has an 11-0 record.

The 'Birds enter the tournament with plenty of momentum, especially on the offensive end where they've scored nine or more runs in five of their seven postseason games. They have plenty of power as well, with four players – Jonny McGill (Richmond, B.C., 17), Trent Lenihan (White Rock, B.C., 15), Mitchell Middlemiss (Chilliwack, B.C., 10) and Kaden Zarowny (Strathmore, Alta., 10) – all in double digits for home runs on the year.

Will Anderson (Delta, B.C.) threw the opening game of both the CCC Championship and the NAIA Opening Round, and allowed just three runs between the two starts, helping his team begin the tournament with a win on both occasions.

"We know everyone is really good at this point in the year," said Pritchett, reflecting on the challenges ahead. "We will need all of our guys to show up and perform in all aspects of the game. Definitely don't need anyone to do anything extra but just be themselves. If we do that, we should be fine and compete at this event."

The tournament is once again double-elimination, meaning that while it's not a complete do-or-die situation against the Grizzlies, the T-Birds know that their path will become much tougher if they are unable to pull out a win on Friday.

If they do win, they won't have to play again until Monday, at which point two teams will already be eliminated entirely. If they lose, then they'll be one of those teams facing potential elimination as soon as the second day.

It all gets underway at 7:00 p.m. (P.T.) on Friday, when you can watch the Thunderbirds face the Grizzlies for free on the NAIA Network.